A/N: What comes out of these characters surprises me at every turn. They're leading the charge, I'm just dictating their letters. Wait, what?

Disclaimer: Still not mine.


Elliot hated working late shifts with Munch. Olivia was always his preferred partner, and even though he and Fin didn't always see eye to eye, at least he told it like it was and could be pretty funny in the right setting.

Munch, on the other hand, while a good guy, was never the one you want around to actually keep you awake through mountains of paperwork or otherwise mundane tasks. But, Elliot had taken on late Wednesdays with Munch for the foreseeable future, if necessary. After Olivia told him she and Chelsea were starting therapy, and Cragen had asked him if he'd be on call for Wednesday nights, he couldn't really say no.

Kathy, of course, had complained.

"You're already on call for Mondays," she'd said. "Why an extra night?"

"Cap just asked me if I could because we've been understaffed lately," he said. "He's got a lot on his plate right now. We're all just trying to help out where we can."

It wasn't a total lie. In the last seven years of marriage and even longer in a relationship with Kathy, he'd mastered the art of the half truth. They were understaffed as a whole but more so now on Wednesday nights because Olivia was going to therapy. Cap did have a lot on his plate, but Elliot taking an extra night of on call didn't affect it one way or another.

That's how he found himself wandering into his favorite diner near work for a dinner break Wednesday evening. He was going to get takeout and then maybe go back to the cribs for a little nap, or a few rounds on the heavy bag in the gym.

When he walked in the front door, he always casually looked at his and Olivia's preferred booth at the back of the room, near the window, just to see who was sitting there. Tonight, he was surprised to see a miniature version of his partner sitting and facing the door, where she usually sat. Chelsea's eyes got wide when she saw him and he smiled, which made his heart pound a little faster. Olivia must have wondered what Chelsea was so excited about because she turned around too, from his usual seat, and waved when she saw him. Instead of making his way to the counter like he'd planned, he walked back to the girls.

"Fancy meeting you here," Olivia said, smirking over her water glass.

"Hi, Elliot," Chelsea said.

"Hey peanut," Elliot said. "What are you guys doing all the way over here tonight?"

"Girls night dinner," Olivia said. "Chelsea got to pick."

"And we're going to the bakery after," Chelsea said.

"Maybe," Olivia said. "If we're not too tired. Remember missy you have a spelling test tomorrow."

"But Mommy," Chelsea said. "We can study while we wait for our food. Then we'll have time to go get brownies and apple cider donuts."

"Ooh, apple cider donuts," Elliot said. "You going to bring some to the squad tomorrow to share?"

Olivia shot him a "you're not helping," glare and didn't respond, but it only made him grin harder.

"Elliot, can you eat with us?" Chelsea asked.

"I don't want to interrupt girls' night," Elliot said.

"Please?" Chelsea asked, giving him a pout he swore he'd seen on Olivia before. He looked to her to gauge her reaction.

"If you don't have a date with the heavy bag you're welcome to join us," Olivia said, easing his fears.

"Okay, I can stay," Elliot said and Chelsea clapped her hands.

"Guess you'll want your usual side," Olivia said, gathering her things to slide out of the booth.

"Sit with me, sit with me," Chelsea said, reaching out for his hand and leading him to her side of the booth.

"Might be nice to see things from this side of the diner for once," Elliot joked, sliding in next to Chelsea. "So what's new at school?"

"I got 100% on my reading test on Monday," Chelsea said. "And my music teacher is going to tell us our class song for the end of the year concert on Friday."

"That sounds fun," Elliot said. "What kind of songs, like Mary Had a Little Lamb?"

"No," Chelsea said with a giggle. "Real songs. I hope we get to sing an NSYNC song. They're my favorite band!"

He saw Olivia smile behind her hand and shake her head.

"Oh no," Elliot said. "Good thing you haven't met my daughters. Maureen is a Backstreet Boys fan and Kathleen is an NSYNC fan. You'd break their tie and Maureen wouldn't be happy about it."

"Which boy is Kathleen's favorite?" Chelsea asked.

"Well, I'd prefer none of them," Elliot said. "But she likes the curly headed one. The lead singer."

"Justin," Olivia said. "His name's Justin."

"Yeah," Elliot said. "That one."

"Oh, good," Chelsea said. "I like JC so we wouldn't have to fight over anybody."

"Very good to know," Elliot said with a laugh.

He couldn't believe how easy this was, sitting, talking, eating, laughing with Chelsea and Olivia. They ordered, with both Elliot and Chelsea getting breakfast for dinner and Olivia ordering grilled cheese and tomato soup. True to her word, Chelsea pulled her spelling list out of her backpack and asked them to quiz her while they waited for dinner. She knew every word.

His dinner hour was up too quickly and he wasn't ready to leave them yet.

"I'm sorry I have to go," Elliot said. "But this was a lot of fun."

"Thanks for staying with us," Chelsea said, and then she put a hand to her face and stage whispered, "I'll make sure Mommy gets you an apple cider donut at the bakery."

"I can hear you," Olivia said.

"That was the point," Chelsea said with a smile.

Olivia reached for the check, but Elliot was faster.

"I got this," he said. "I'm going to hold you to that donut."

"Don't count on it, Stabler," Olivia said as he walked toward the counter and paid the tab.

The girls were packed up by the time he finished paying.

"Walk you to your car?" Elliot asked.

"We parked at the precinct," Olivia said. "Easier than looking for a meter. But we're going to go to the bakery."

"It's getting dark, Liv," Elliot said. "You don't want to be walking down there at night. At least drive down."

She looked like she was going to fight him but eventually shrugged her shoulders.

"Fine," she said, fishing her car keys out of her pocket.

"Then I can definitely walk you to your car," he said. "It's right on my way."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Olivia deadpanned.

Instinctively as they were about to cross the street, he took Chelsea's hand and put the other at the small of Olivia's back to guide her across the street. Chelsea didn't even react to an adult helping her across, but Olivia sure gave him a weird glance but didn't swat him away. It just felt so natural to protect them, the same way he would any of his other girls.

But he had to keep reminding himself that they weren't his girls, Olivia especially. Chelsea was only his in blood, and Olivia was his partner. Just his partner. His married partner who even though her husband was a douche, was still her douche and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

When they got to the car, Olivia unlocked it and he helped get Chelsea into her booster seat.

"Thanks for inviting me to dinner," he said. "Enjoy your dessert and have some sweet dreams tonight."

"I will," Chelsea said. "Bye, Elliot."

"See ya, peanut," he said before shutting her door.

"Drive safe, Liv," he said, opening the driver's side door for her. "Text me when you get home."

"Or what?" Olivia said. "Are you going to send a uni for a drive by?"

"I might," he said. "Might even do it myself. Just text me, alright?'

"You SOB," Olivia muttered, sliding into her seat.

"Yeah, yeah, you love me," Elliot said.

He couldn't be completely sure, but he thought he heard her gasp as he shut her door. But it was fine. They could love each other in a completely platonic way, the way friends do.

"You look a lot less doom and gloom than when you left," Munch said when he got back to his desk. "You take a wrong turn down the block and end up at the topless bar instead of the diner."

"Shut up, John," Elliot said, sliding back into his chair and hanging the coat on the back.

"No judgement here," Munch said. "Just let me know if you need the number for my divorce lawyer if Kathy finds out.

Elliot thought it was funny that he might need the divorce lawyer more if Kathy knew where he actually was instead of being at the topless bar.

About 40 minutes later when he was headlong in DD5s, his phone buzzed.

"Made it home safe, asshole. You can call off the search party," the text read.

"And Munch was all ready to break out his spy gear," he texted back. "Have a good rest of your night."

The next morning, they caught a case early that required them to go all the way down to Battery Park. There was a posed body dump inside the Castle Clinton Memorial. And of course, there was bumper to bumper traffic, and with no real emergency, there was no need for the lights and sirens. But Elliot didn't mind. He was munching on an apple cider donut while his partner fiddled with the radio.

"Talk radio, talk radio," she mumbled as she flipped stations. "One real song. Is that too much to ask?"

"Please thank Chelsea for my donut," Elliot said after chewing another bite. "Because God knows you wouldn't bring me one out of the kindness of your heart."

"Shove it up your ass, Stabler," she said, finally finding a channel playing an Eagles tune.

"What's got you this morning?" Elliot asked.

She was quiet for a few minutes, drumming her fingers on the door panel.

"That night," she said. "Why were you standing by yourself on a street corner in the rain?"

That wasn't what he'd been expecting her to say and he had to sputter to keep from choking on his next piece of donut.

"What?" Elliot said. "What happened to 'not while we're on the clock?'"

"Do you think we're getting to Battery Park anytime soon?" she asked, gesturing out the window to the gridlock. "At least here the walls don't have ears."

"I mean, does it matter what I was doing there?" Elliot asked. "I mean it's not like it'll change what happened."

"If you don't want to tell me, fine," she said. "I've just always kind of wondered how you got there. How we got there. You know I was out for a drive to process getting engaged to a man who told me we may never have children. But you never told me what you were doing out in that storm."

Elliot crammed the rest of the donut in his mouth just so he wouldn't have to talk while he chewed. Why would she bring this up now? What did it matter what he was doing eight years ago? Her knowing wasn't going to turn back the clock and change anything. And in truth, even if they got a do over, he'd probably still do it again and again even if it'd lead them right back here again.

"You really want to know?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have asked."

"So that was the day I interviewed to become a detective," Elliot said.

"Weren't you only like 22?" Olivia asked.

"Twenty-one, actually," Elliot said. "But my record preceded me."

"Still does," she mocked. "But probably for different reasons now."

"You going to let me tell the story or are you going to provide commentary?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes and dragged her thumb and pointer finger across her mouth like she was zipping her lips.

"Kathy and I were still engaged at the time, because we didn't have enough money for a wedding yet and she was pregnant with Kathleen," he said. "She didn't want to be pregnant for the wedding anyway. Maureen was three, we'd dropped her off with Kathy's parents to go have a nice dinner out to celebrate my hopeful promotion, or as nice a dinner as we could have out on my joke of a salary."

He paused to see if she was going to make any more sarcastic comments, but when she didn't, he continued.

"After dinner, she asked me if it was really the right time for me to become a detective," he said. "She was stressed out, raising Maureen, being pregnant, going to school. It was a lot for her, and granted I probably wasn't home enough. But we were about to be parents again. We needed a bigger house, to pay for the wedding. To buy a hell of a lot more diapers."

"I didn't know Kathy was in school when she was pregnant," Olivia said.

"Both times, actually," Elliot said. "She stayed with her parents when I went into the Marines. Then when I got out and we got a house and got pregnant again she was still trying to finish her degree."

"It's hard," Olivia said. "Trying to do both."

Elliot realized that Olivia probably went through many of the same things Kathy did. All the juggling responsibilities and motherhood and school work. But Olivia had Mark, who wasn't overseas, who worked a typical nine-to-five so she could count on his help. Though he hated the guy, it made him happy that maybe Olivia wasn't quite as alone as he'd made Kathy feel.

"She told me not to come home that night," Elliot said. "She gave me back her engagement ring and told me she'd move back in with her parents in the morning. Then she took the car and left me at the restaurant. I didn't have money for a payphone to call a cab, so I thought I could walk home and beat her there. But then the rain happened, and well, that's how I ended up where you found me."

Olivia was quiet for a few minutes as they inched forward in traffic.

"Why didn't you just ask me to take you home, then?" Olivia asked. "If you wanted to go make up with Kathy?"

"Because I didn't want to lead you to my house," Elliot said. "You could have been a serial killer."

"And yet, you still got in the car with me," she said, shaking her head, but at least she had a small smile on her face.

"By the time you picked me up, Kathy had been home for over an hour," he said. "She had my house keys and probably locked me out. She wanted me gone for the night, so I stayed gone. I thought we were over. I really didn't think she'd take me back."

"Why did she?" Olivia asked. "Why did she finally decide to take you back?"

"Because when I got home the next morning and she was putting all of Maureen's stuff into a duffel bag I begged her not to take my children away from me," he said. "Sure, I loved her, but I love my kids more than anything in this world."

"So she agreed to take you back, just like that?" Olivia asked.

"I think you can tell by now that my home life growing up wasn't ideal," he said. "But Kathy's was. Her parents were happy. They ate meals together, both parents came to all her school functions, they took family vacations that didn't end with gunshots. I told her I wanted our kids to grow up like she did. Not shuttling between two homes, thinking Dad didn't care about them. I told her if she didn't want to marry me for me, at least she could marry me for them. And she agreed."

"Was I just pity sex?" she asked, not looking at him, and staring at something out her window that only she could see. "Because you thought your relationship of however many years was over, you just needed to get under someone else to get over her?"

Elliot had spent eight years trying not to overanalyze why he slept with Liv all those years ago. When he would let himself think about it, usually after too much beer or Jim Beam, and wonder if it had been any other girl that had picked him up that night, would he have even gotten in the car? Would he have followed her to a motel, sat on a small bed with her in nothing but towels and so easily let himself get caught up in the moment?

From the minute he locked eyes with her, there was always something about Liv. He didn't believe in destiny, or soul mates, or any of that astrology tarot shit. He believed in God's plan and free will, and right and wrong. But he would be lying to himself if he didn't feel that there was some greater force pushing and keeping him and Liv close together.

He thought he knew what love was when he met Kathy, but that love was nothing compared to what he felt when he finally became a father. And in a romantic sense, it was getting harder to deny that the love he felt for Kathy was anything like what he felt for Liv. He did love Kathy. He loved the memories they shared. He loved everything she did for the kids. He loved that she was smart, and kind, and that she could tolerate him. But it was different with Olivia.

With Liv, she didn't always tolerate him. She fought back. She didn't placate him, she challenged him. She was everything he loved about Kathy, but more. She was the smartest woman he'd ever met, and the most beautiful, inside and out. She cared so deeply for everyone around her that he'd seen times where her tank was completely empty and yet somehow she still found space in her heart to give even more. She was broken in the same ways he was, but she handled it so much better,

"You could never be pity sex, Olivia," he said, after thinking about it for a bit. "I don't know what it was, or how we fell into the situation we did, but I can assure you that pity, a rebound, or any other hit it and quit it frat boy term that you can think up never factored into my decision to do what we did."

He saw her smile out of the corner of his eye, and I thought maybe he should stop. But they were almost to Battery Park, and he figured he better get the last line out before he lost his nerve.

"That night was special to me," Elliot said. "And not just after the fact when I found out we made a kid. Even when you were just the girl in the rain, you were an important person in my life. And since you've been back in it, you've only become even more important. Don't ever question that."

Elliot put the car in park against the curb and jumped out, not wanting her to ask any more questions. He didn't wait to see if she was following him before he charged ahead into the Memorial and yelled out to Medical Examiner Warner.

"What have we got," he said, taking in the sight of the posed body.

This case looked just twisted enough to get Olivia to forget the conversation they'd had in the car, but he'd be replaying it in his own mind for days and months to come.


A/N: What's going to come next? Wouldn't we all like to know. Reviews are to me as coffee is to Lorelai Gilmore, my lifeline.